In Nigeria it is illegal to have gay sex, and a new law–for which congressional hearings are being right held now–would extend police powers to arrest suspects as well as outlaw any possibility of gay marriage in the future. ( The BBC reports that the congressional hearing comes with children wearing t-shirts that read: “Same sex marriage is un-natural and un-African”)
But it gets worse in South Africa where gay marriage is actually legal and the constitution protect sexual orientation. There, a new report–backed by the country’s Human Rights Commission–reveal increases in brutal attacks, rape and often murder of black lesbians by men who refer to their actions as “corrective rape” behind the guise of trying to “cure” lesbian women of their sexual orientation. What’s more, the state does not think it is a serious problem and the courts pretend the victims’ sexual orientation has nothing to do with it.
The story is on The Guardian’s site. It includes a spine-chilling video where men justify the rape of lesbians.
HT: Nerina and Naijablog (the comments to a post on Naijablog about the proposed Nigerian anti-gay law, make for interesting reading).
[...] The Guardian story (and video), here’s another video report on the increase in rape of lesbians in South Africa from [...]